Our Time Is Here
by parakeet17
Summary: Graduation. They had a great summer together before splitting apart. It's been five years and they haven't seen or talked to each other since. Maybe a reunion can change that . . . three-shot!
1. Graduation

**A/N: I'm ba-ack! Okay, so while I was on vacation, I thought of this! it's only gonna be a three-shot and I already have the chapters written out for this, so I won't worry about having to juggle three stories! Even though this is more of a friendship fid, it will have a bit of Loliver and only a hint of Jiley. You don't like? Just think of how bad it would be if it was Lake and Moliver! Talk about gross! Anyways, you've read the description. Read on if you like!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, not yet. I've been a bit too busy with my plan to take over the world. Maybe after that's done, I'll come back to this project.**

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

"Wow," I breathed, looking at our circle of four sadly. "This is really happening, isn't it?"

They all smiled. Not because it was funny, but more like our nerves were getting the better of us and we were trying to make a day that should be the best of our lives feel that way. If that even made sense, but whatever. My point is, we're trying to be just a bit happier.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Miley chimed in. This was so weird, Miley's usually a chatter box and now she's hardly even said ten words since we walked through the door fifteen minutes ago.

Jake flashed one of his movie star grins and eyed us sadly. "This is going to sound totally and completely sappy, but just deal with it." He took a deep breath. "The truth is, you guys gave me some of the best years of my life. Not to mention that you put up with my egotistical ways and made me a better person. And that's no movie line," he added, pulling another small smile out of us.

Oliver, who had been playing with his tassel, stopped. Putting his hands down, we saw that he was glaring at us through his brown hair. "You make it sound like we're dying, not graduating! Lighten up a bit! Just think about it: no more Skunkle and no more of Mr. Corelli's wacky project ideas and no more last-minute cramming for exams! I'm happy, and you guys should be happy, too!"

We all glanced at one another before smiles creeped up and on to our faces and we burst out laughing.

"As much as I hate to admit, Oliver's right," I said once our laughter died down a little. "Let's face it, we've been waiting for this moment ever since we hit high school and now we're dreading it? What's wrong with us?"

"I know," Miley responded, still giggling a little. "You know things are bad when Oliver goes all fortune cookie on us and it actually makes sense!" We started laughing all over again, except for Oliver, who was glaring at us again. And even though we told each other we wouldn't make this day all sappy, we caved in. Spreading our arms out, we pulled each other into a hug.

Suddenly, Mr. Corelli's voice came thundering from down the hall as he yelled "Places, people!" into a megaphone, completely disrupting our Kodak moment.

We all wished each other good luck and trudged over to our places in line. Oliver was somewhere in the middle, Jake was a few people away from him, and then a id or two separated him from Miley, and her from me. We weren't ever right after each other, but we could clearly see each other.

Shortly after I wedged myself into the line, our choir teacher started playing the piano music and we all followed the person in front of us as we filed in to the auditorium and took our seats.

If you looked close enough, you could see nearly every shift anxiously in their Seaview High blue and yellow caps and gowns. Our fingers tapped on our knees to a made-up beat playing inside our head while the principal and vice principal recited some crappy speech. Our feet stomped on the tiled floor endlessly while awards and medals for stellar students were handed out. And we all but sprang out of our seats as Saint Sarah, the valedictorian, told us some cheesy "There's no_ I_ in _team_" speech that made all the teachers dab their eyes with handkerchiefs. We were nervous and excited and couldn't sit still if we tried.

Finally, some random member from student council announced that it was time for the seniors to receive their high school diplomas.

The second we saw the barely-noticeable signal from my weird algebra teacher, we rose from our seats and got in alphabetical order for our teachers to call out names and officially end our high school lives.

It took a while, but my ears perked up when I heard the name of my dorky best friend being called. "Oliver Oscar Oken . . ." the principal read from the long list of names.

I grinned broadly as I saw him stumble on to the stage, grab his diploma, and shake hands with a few of the teachers. His goofy grin was clearly plastered on his face even after he nearly fell down the stairs and broke his neck.

He briefly locked eyes with me and gave me an ecstatic thumbs-up, accidentally nodding his head too hard and knocking his cap off in the process.

Quickly picking it up, he mouthed a reassuring good luck and placed the blue hat back on his head before striding back into the auditorium to take his seat once again.

My nerves began to build up all over again as my name drew nearer. Miley and Jake had already gotten their certificates and wished me good luck just like Oliver had. Pulling my head out of the clouds, I realized that I was next.

"Lillian Rose Truscott . . ." the principal bellowed. As I walked across the stage, I silently prayed in my head that I wouldn't have a Lizzie McGuire moment and ruin the whole graduation ceremony.

Luckily, I somehow managed to maneuver my legs over to the teacher, lift a surprisingly steady hand to grab my diploma and shake hands with the teacher, and _not_ trip and fall off the stage.

Hmm . . . what if I did do that? Knowing me, I'd probably turn such a bright shade of red that I could put a tomato to shame. Or maybe my friends would help me. Hopefully. We would probably disguise it as stage diving as the senior prank. But what if no one caught me? Oops, let's get back, shall we? We shall.

Anyways, I took my seat in the auditorium again and let it all sink in. Looking around, I recognized the familiar faces of classmates and I smiled to myself.

There was Sarah, grinning from ear to ear and smiling to herself for being valedictorian. I spotted Dandruff Danny, still as flaky as ever, sneaking a few waves to his proud parents. Amber and Ashley had actually managed to scrape their way through high school without being held back. Barely. A few rows ahead of me, Matt Marshal listened intently while the continued to drone on. Not too far away from him, Lu-kiss-every-girl-in-school was busy flirting with another girl, oblivious to the glares aimed at him from her boyfriend. Please, as if he hadn't dated practically every girl in the senior class. Whatever. Becca Weller was walking across the stage, still looking like a model in her yellow gown and I even saw Rico, the shortest of the group, fidgeting around in anticipation.

Last but not least, I saw my best friends. Miley was rolling her eyes at the arrogant jocks sitting behind her that we cheering on their friends obnoxiously while Oliver kept glancing at the clock, wishing for the ceremony to just end already. Jake was leaning back in his chair, clearly relaxed. Well, he was until he almost over and he frantically steadied himself. I tried my best to stifle my laughter.

Once the final names were read and everyone was seated, the head of the school district uttered a few boring words before the principal stepped up to the stand once more and said the words we were all dying to hear.

"I now present to you this year's graduating class!"

There was a rustling of chairs as the seniors, including me, leaped out of their seats and started cheering. We joyously threw our caps in the air as we laughed and cried in joy.

Cameras flashed and kids screamed and hugged each other. I found my friends and we all squealed happily as it rained blue and yellow caps.

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

**So . . . how was it? Was it good? Terrible? Have you ever had a completely embarrassing moment like in the Lizzie McGuire movie? Please leave a review and tell me what you think! It makes me smiley and I'll give you guys some more virtual cookies!**

**Peace, Love, and Music!**

**Parakeet17**


	2. Friends Forever

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I'm **_**still **_**working on cleaning my room! But, in all fairness, I'm switching rooms and I have a lot of junk that needs to be sorted through. Anyways, thanks to these people for reviewing!**

**luvschaylor4ever****, ****JNKlover****, ****XLoendLOLiver4evaX****, ****Pom pickles****, and ****x miss magic x****!**

**So, thanks to those people and here's the next chapter of Our Time is Here!**

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

"Oliver!" I yelled the moment I arrived at Rico's and saw him standing at the juice bar, waiting for me.

"Lilly!" he yelled back. "I thought you had to go to some kind of family thing tonight?"

"Nah, I told my parents that this will probably be the last time I'll see you guys in a while. It's an end of the year party and I wanna have fun with my friends tonight before we all split apart," I explained, giving him a hug.

"Lilly, don't mention that, please. I'd really rather not think about how we're all going different places," he sighed.

You see, after tonight, Jake has to fly to Los Angeles to work on one of his movies and an upcoming television show, so he'll be pretty busy. Miley wants to start working in the fashion industry, still keeping Hannah alive. So, she's heading off to New York. Oliver's grandpa wants him to take over the family business . . . in Kentucky. And me? I heard that Florida has some pretty nice music industries. Just because I can't sing or perform to save my life, it doesn't mean that I don't want to work on a record company.

"Fine, I'll shut up about it, but only if you promise to keep in touch with me. I don't wanna lose my best friend!" I was scared. Come on, I'm barely even eighteen and now I'm flying to a state on the other side of the country by myself for college and a major job? I think you'd be scared, too.

"I promise," he grinned and pulled apart from my hug. "Come on, Miley and Jake are over here." He grabbed my hand and led me over to the huge bonfire, where Miley and Jake were roasting hot dogs and sitting next to each other on a large log.

I sat beside Miley and Oliver took a seat next to me. "Hey guys!" I greeted, smiling.

Miley giggled and placed her hot dog on a bun. "Can you believe that we're actually done? For good? Well, besides those stupid college courses, we're done with school! It's over!"

"Yeah," Jake grinned. "No more lockers and having to turn down movie offers because school apparently comes first. This is so great, all of us together tonight!"

Oliver had picked up a hot dog and began roasting it over the fire. "Hey, do you guys remember the time when Miley and Lilly accidentally set their science experiment on fire and the whole school had to evacuate the building?" The guys started cracking up even before Oliver was finished while Miley and I blushed furiously.

And that's how the rest of the night went. Remembering all the good and bad times together, laughing our heads off and getting teary eyed at a few things. Listening to the music blare and watching people make complete idiots out of themselves. Jake and Oliver had a miniature hot dog eating contest and Oliver won. He ate seven hot dogs in ten minutes and Jake at three. The nighttime sky was starting to show up and a few stars popped up in to the sky. It must have been at least ten at night.

"Lilly, they're doing karaoke! Come on, we have to go do it!" Miley was standing up and attempting to drag me over to the stage they had set up.

I stayed put. "Miley, don't you remember karaoke night from ninth grade? I totally blew it! I am not going to go up there again and completely embarrass myself in front of our whole graduating class!"

"Lilly!" she scolded. "This is probably the last time we're going to see these people! Why not give them something to remember us by? Besides, one day, you're life is going to flash before your eyes. Make it worth watching." She gave me a sly smile and stalked off towards the stage.

I really can't argue with that. I've always been a goofball and I wasn't afraid to show it during high school, so why not goof off now? Along the way to the stage, Miley was whispering into the ears of all the girls, even Amber and Ashley.

"Miley, what are you doing?" I asked. Since when does she talk to them?

"Lilly, remember the episode of One Tree Hill where they graduated and all of the girls were dancing on the stage?" she said and I couldn't help but laugh, realizing what she wanted us to do.

All ten of us walked up to the stage and took our weird positions before the Spice Girls started blaring through the speakers. Loudly. At first, people started booing at us. I can't blame them. None of us were actually popular, except for Amber and Ashley, but we had all seen the episode and loved that part. Plus, who really wants to listen to the Spice Girls?

Anyways, after a few seconds, people saw the dancing and actually started cheering us on. We were all laughing and going crazy, loving every second of it. When the song was over, we all high-fived each other and walked off the stage, smiling at what we did.

"That was amazing!" Jake and Oliver exclaimed at the same time. "You guys were great!"

"Are you sure you didn't just like it because there were a ton of girls up there dancing right in front of you guys?" I asked. They blushed.

Miley smiled sadly. "You guys, I'm gonna miss you so much! I can't believe this is our last night together! We have to always keep in touch with each other!" She pulled all four of us in to a tight group hug and squeezed us until breathing became a freakishly difficult task.

"Come on, guys!" Oliver yelled, trying not to dwell on the fact that we won't see each other again for a really long time. "We'll be fine!"

I smiled, trying to stay positive. "How do you know?"

"Haven't you ever heard you and Miley squeal with happiness after you make up from some big fight over nothing?" Miley and I grinned sheepishly while Jake was trying to think of what Oliver was trying to say. When it finally clicked and made sense with all of us, we laughed.

"Friends forever, until the end of time."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

That was five years ago. I thought we did a pretty good job with staying in touch and everything. And then I went to the grocery store today.

I was in the coffee isle – what can I say? I'm addicted – when I heard laughing and screaming. As I was walking to the front of the store to check out, I saw what the commotion was about.

Four friends, two boys and two girls, were just walking and talking together. They were smiling so hard, it looked like they're cheeks were on fire. I grinned to myself, remembering when that was me, Miley, Oliver, and Jake dancing in the middle of the store with our pajamas on at eleven at night.

I was remembering the good times on the drive home when I thought of the bonfire. We had said that we'd be friends forever and looked how that turned out. I haven't talked to Miley or Jake in at least two years, due to their busy schedules. Oliver visited Florida a few months ago for a business trip, but I only got to see him and say hi. Nothing else. I've seen Jake . . . in the news. Now that he was a big movie star, it was pretty typical to see him there. I get to see Hannah Montana performing on the television, but that's about it.

What really did happen to friends forever? I thought about it while I put the bags full of food away in their proper places in my tiny apartment kitchen. I was just about to go watch the news when something sitting in the pile of mail caught my eye.

Walking over and picking it up, I realized what it was. Just to be sure, I tore open the small blue envelope and read the fancy script on the printed paper inside. I was right. It's a class reunion. Our five year reunion, to be specific.

I wonder what everyone's doing right now. I wonder if they miss me as much as I miss them. I wonder if they're going to the reunion.

I picked up my phone and plopped down on the couch. Quickly dialing his phone number, I pressed the phone up to my ear and waited for an answer. When the phone rang multiple times and the answering machine finally picked it up, I sighed. _"Hey, you've reached Oliver. Here's the beep, so do your thing and I'll get back to you." _There's no time like the present, right?

"Hey, Oliver. It's me, Lilly. I was just calling to say that . . . I got something in the mail today. It's a class reunion thing. I was just wondering if you were going. So . . . yeah." I paused. What else was there to say? Nothing really exciting has happened lately and I've got no clue what he's been doing. We both haven't skateboarded in years, so I can't talk about that. "So, uh, what have you been up to?" Well, that was lame. "Yeah, so just, uh, call me back, okay? Okay, bye." I hung up.

That was incredibly stupid. I'm supposed to be his best friend and I didn't even know how to talk to him . . . and he wasn't even there! You know what? I'm sick of pretending like everything's been perfectly fine. Yes, I have friends here in Florida, but Miley and Oliver and Jake were my best friends, and the only reason I know what Jake's been doing is because he's in nearly every tabloid across the nation.

I called again and, unsurprisingly, got the answering machine again. I heard the familiar message from Oliver and took a deep breath. Let's hope it'll give me enough time to say what I need to say. Oh, darn it, now, I've got that stupid John Mayer song stuck in my head. Anyways, the beep came and I started talking.

"Hey, Oliver, it's Lilly again. I just . . . what happened to us? I used to talk to you and Jake and Miley all the time, no matter how busy our schedules were. We would laugh and goof off and talk all through the night and in to the early hours of the morning. I'm sort of surprised the neighbors never called the cops. But what happened to _friends forever, until the end of time_? Maybe it's just me, but when I said that, I meant it. Listen, I didn't call here to yell at you, I just . . . I just hope you come to the reunion. It'd be great to see you. I miss you. So, I'll hopefully see you in two weeks. Bye."

Taking a deep breath and setting the phone back on the charger, I quickly stood up and grabbed my purse, walked out the door and locked it behind me. I practically flew down the seven flights of stairs. I could have taken the elevator, but I didn't feel like it.

I climbed in to my car and sped off to the airport. If I'm going to that reunion, I'm going to need a plain ticket.

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

**Well, there it is! Did anyone else see that part of One Tree Hill where all the girls were dancing? I loved it! Sorry, enough of my ranting, please review and tell me what you think!**

**Parakeet17**


	3. The Reunion

**A/N: SORRY!!! You obviously know that this is the first time I've updated this in **_**months**_** and I apologize (really,**_** really**_** apologize) for that! Many thanks to ****JoxBrosx1****7, ****AColdSky****, ****XLoendLOLiver4evaX****, ****Pom pickles****, ****JNKlover****, and ****x miss magic x****! It's really great to know that you guys like this story! Well, I've kept you waiting since July, so I won't ramble anymore! So, without further ado, here's the third and last chapter! Enjoy!**

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Remind me to never go on a plane ride ever again.

For _six hours_ I was trapped between an old bickering couple who decided to put me in the middle of their argument. In front of me was a pair of newlyweds who wouldn't stop making googly eyes at each other and making kissing noises. And behind me was some punk who likes to listen to their stupid rap music a thousand times louder than it needed to be while his younger brothers fought over who got the blue crayon, and they could have been excellent soccer players from the way they were kicking my seat. Plus, some old creep from across the isle kept winking at me. He must have been about fifty years older than me. Talk about gross.

Once I got off the plane, I made a beeline for the luggage pickup place, hoping that the old guy wouldn't be there. Within a few minutes I had found my neon purple suitcase (from touring with Hannah in my teenage years as Lola) and walked out of the crowded place. Because I had taken an early morning flight, it was somewhere in the afternoon and I had a few hours to catch up with my mom before the reunion began.

I hailed a cab and shoved my bags in the trunk before sliding in to the back seat and handing the guy a sheet of paper with my mom's address scribbled across it. I was back home within a few minutes. Giving the guy his money, I yanked my luggage out from the back before sprinting up to the front door and managing to _not_ fall and get hurt. I'd say that's a pretty good accomplishment for the day.

I excitedly ring the doorbell and knock on the door a couple times. I began jumping up and down. Really, I was way too stoked for this. I get to see my mom and spend time with my friends for a few days, hopefully keeping in touch with them when I go back to my house. Oh, I hear footsteps!

I tried to calm down a bit, but I couldn't stop my legs from bouncing up and down. I swear, if someone saw me from across the street, they would have though I was some crazy homeless lady in serious need of a bathroom. Smiling at the thought, my grin was made even broader when I saw my mom pry the door open a crack before swinging it wide open, her arms spread out, waiting for a hug. "Lilly!" she cried.

"Mom!" I let go of my suitcase and pulled her in a hug. "I haven't seen you in so long! And I haven't talked to you in a while either!" Wow, it seems like I've been doing a lot of that lately. Not keeping in touch with everyone, I mean.

"Come in, come in! I just pulled out a batch of your favorite snickerdoodle cookies. They're warm and toasty, just the way you like them!" Ah, I loved this. Eagerly steeping inside, I set everything by the stairs to take up later before walking out to the kitchen, grabbing a plate full of cookies and a glass filled to the brim with milk. Then I sat down at the table and started talking with my mom for the first time in months.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Don't be too late!" my mom called as she tossed me the keys to her mini van. "Have fun!" My mom finally closed the door, satisfied with her comments, before swinging it open again to add one last thing. "Don't total the car!" Gosh, it's like it's senior year all over again.

"I won't!" I promised and gave a small farewell wave before hopping in to the front seat and driving off to the high school. And as I drive to the reunion, I can only feel one thing. I feel old. I know I'm only in my early twenties, but I'm seeing all of these young kids walking around and hanging out with friends just like I did five years ago.

Wow, five years. It's an understatement to say that it's been a long time and things have changed. Trends have changed, people have changed, ideas, thoughts, lives, moods, likes and dislikes. There's so much stuff that's different now and I just wish I could go back to high school and make things better.

Oops, I almost missed my turn. That's what you get for deep thinking while driving. Anyways, here I am now. Parking my car, I can already see disco lights in the gymnasium and hear the steady beat of music playing in the background. I smiled and tried to remember who people were as I saw them walk inside. Deciding to be one of those people walking inside, I tugged my skirt down a bit and adjusted my shirt a bit before strutting back in to memory lane.

Walking in, I found that I suddenly was hit by a wave of remembrance. I remembered who people were, I remembered Ms. Kunkle shouting at Oliver and I to get to class and Mr. Corelli pairing Miley and me together for odd projects. I remembered graduation night and slamming my locker shut on frustrating Monday mornings. I remember secretly carving my name in to every chair I sat in while I attended that high school. I swear, there must be over a hundred "_Lilly was here!_"carvings scattered throughout the school.

Looking around the gym that was lined with blue and yellow balloons, our school colors, I spotted a familiar twosome complaining about the punch. There were Amber and Ashley, still as beautiful as ever. Will someone please tell me when karma will come back and bite them, preferably in their perfect little faces?

Looking around once more, I immediately knew where all my friends were. Over in a corner of the gym, I spotted over half of my classmates crammed in a huge circle, most likely trying to get a glimpse or some kind of inside story from Jake Ryan. I walked over there, half annoyed at all the people and their lack of appreciation for other's privacy, and half absolutely beaming that I would get to see my friend again.

Shoving my way through the large throng of people, I saw a familiar mop of blonde hair. "Jake!" I called out, hoping he would hear me and recognize my voice over everyone else's. But then again, it's been five years. Who knows what could have changed?

"Lilly?" It wasn't Jake's familiar voice. Well, familiar to me. I've seen every one of his movies at least five times. You know, the invisible support of a friend cheering him on from over a thousand miles away. But back to what I was saying. It wasn't Jake. As I shoved aside someone that oddly resembled an older looking version of Becca Weller, I was surprised to find Miley standing in front of Jake, trying to fight off the crowd.

"Miley?" When did she get here? I mean, I've heard of fashionably late, but it seems as if everyone is here already. But where's . . . oh, there he is, stuffing his face by the punch bowl and assortment of chips. Typical Oliver.

Miley waved at me excitedly, then shot me a pleading look. Of course I would help. Setting my purse on a chair a few feet away, I rolled up the sleeves of my blouse the squeezed my way through the crowd of people once more, dragging another chair behind me. Kicking off my shoes so I wouldn't fall, I stepped up on it and whistled. Loudly, I'll have you know. "Hey!" I shouted. That seemed to get everyone's attention.

"Listen, I know you're all stoked to see Jake Ryan, the movie star, back at our school again, but are we seriously going to act like this again? Are we that childish? It's been five years, so how about this: I'll get Jake to sign a few napkins and then we'll hand them out to everyone that wants one, alright?" The crowd nodded. "Thank you!" I sighed, feeling better when the crowd quickly dissolved in to much tinier clusters of people talking amongst themselves. What I had meant to say was _Why the heck are you suffocating my friend? Back off or face my wrath! _But, you know, I didn't want to sound rude, so I phrased it differently.

Hopping off the chair and putting my shoes back on, I placed the chair back to its original position and grabbed my purse before joining Miley, Jake, and Oliver, who had walked over after my little announcement. "Hey guys!" I greeted them cheerfully and we all embraced each other in a group hug. Despite the five years, we all looked pretty much the same. Miley still had long and wavy brown hair and I was pleased to find out that she hadn't resorted to color contacts and left her eyes the pretty ocean blue color they've always been. Jake was tan, tall, muscular, with his side swept blonde hair and Oliver was . . . well, just plain old Oliver. Another day, another one of his crazy polo shirts. Basically, we just looked like slightly older versions of our high school selves.

"Thanks so much Lilly. I was beginning to think they'd never leave!" Jake exclaimed, already pulling a marker out of his coat pocket and starting to autograph the napkins. After that, we all talked and snacked on chips and salsa, and laughed at old stories. I missed them more than I realized.

"Hey," Oliver said, grabbing out attention, "remember when we snuck in to Kunkle's classroom and carved our names at the bottom of her desk that day when she made us stay after school to clean up the classroom after supposedly disrupting her lesson?" We all smiled and dazed off in the memory of that day. We knew she'd probably kill us if she'd walked in on us while we were doing it or even just found out about it, but miraculously she never did.

"Yeah, what about it?" I asked when I remembered Oliver was still waiting for an answer.

"Wanna go see if it's still there?" He smirked and looked at all of us devilishly. At first we all looked skeptical and hesitant, but then Jake reminded us of something.

"Well, why not? I mean, what can she do to us? We left this place five years ago. Can she really give us detention if we're simply roaming the halls and remembering our high school days?" That knocked some sense in to us. We quickly handed out the signed napkins to everyone before bolting out the door and running down to the classroom.

"I think it's in this hallway," Miley directed as we all made an abrupt left turn then sprinted down the hall and slid in to the correct classroom. Whoa, talk about a Breakfast Club moment. But anyways, we stepped in to the room and the memories came flooding back to all of us like a tidal wave. We lightly touched a couple desks and sat in what were ours. I remembered carving my name in to my desk, so I started checking the bottoms of desks to find it, finally spotting it after looking for about five minutes. I pulled out my digital camera (I've been secretly taking pictures all night) and just snapped the shot when I remembered Kunkle's desk.

I scrambled to my feet and crawled back on the floor with the other three, laying on our backs to see the bottom of the desk. It was empty.

"Well, maybe she had to get a new one. I mean, that one she did have was pretty old and it probably got infested with termites or something, so of course she got a new desk," I rambled, trying to lighten the mood and hide the disappointment I was feeling. "I mean, if my desk was a thousand years old, I'd start complaining, too. Really, who would want an old, creaky desk that could fall apart at any second? But look at this wood! I mean, that's pretty solid. It hurts when I knock on it and it doesn't roll away! I'd say that's a pretty good desk. I mean, I don't really know much about desks, but I think it's safe to say –"

"Miss Truscott," a voice said from behind me, making my head snap up and whack my forehead on the desk. Ow. I rubbed my head with my hand and carefully maneuvered my self out from under the desk, Oliver, Miley, and Jake following suit. Once I was up on my feet again, I looked at the doorway only to find Kunkle standing there with her hands behind her back.

"Miss Kunkle?" We all echoed, surprised to see her here.

She smiled. "Looking for this?" from behind her, she pulled out a square of wood. At first I though nothing of it, but then she flipped it over and I saw what was on the back. It was the part of the desk with our names carved in to it!

Oliver's and Jake's jaws dropped to the floor and Miley and I started grinning like crazy. "But how did . . . when did . . . have you . . . what?" Oliver stuttered and Miss Kunkle chuckled.

"Lilly was right when she said that I got a new desk. I was checking the desk all over so I could donate it when I found your little writings and I knew that you did it during that detention. That's the only time you could have done it . . . and you carved the date on the wood, too. So, I got my brother to cut out this section and then I gave the rest to him so he could build some kind of toy for my niece. I was hoping I'd run in to all of you tonight so I could give it to you. And look, here you all are." She smiled and stepped forward, standing in front of Miley. "This belongs to all of you," she placed it in Miley's open hand, gave a small wave, and walked out of the classroom.

"That was weird," Jake said a little while after she left, speaking our thoughts and breaking the silence.

"Yeah, and since when has Kunkle cared about us anyways?" Oliver scratched the top of his head like a monkey, which made me laugh. Soon we were all laughing. It wasn't what Oliver said that made us laugh, I think it was just all of us being together again, having another wacky adventure at the school with Kunkle. And as much as I hate to admit it, I missed this place. Waking up early sucked. The mountains of homework sucked. Being forced to be there against my will for eight hours sucked. The drama sucked. The friends are the things that kept me going. They were there through the ups and the downs and Jake and Miley managed not to make Ollie and I feel like third wheels when they were dating.

"Oh, wow," I sighed, unintentionally saying it aloud.

The other three tore their eyes away from the piece of wood and looked at me, their expressions confused. I smiled. "I was just thinking about some memories we had here, and I said Ollie instead of Oliver for the first time in . . . years. It's crazy that just this one night – this couple of hours – together again for the first time in months can have that affect on you."

I think that made all of us stop and think. Miley was the first to break the silence. "How did we get so screwed up? When did we decide we were too busy to see each other?" We shrugged, and we all knew the answer. We all got engulfed in our lives, letting life pass us by.

"Let's make a promise. Right here. Right now." Jake sat on the top of a desk and looked at us all pointedly. "I honestly don't care if I miss out on some major movie deal or skip another red carpet event if it means seeing you guys at least once a month from now on. We will never do that again. I hated it. But there's no way I could contact you guys without the press finding out one way or another. So from here on out, I don't care anymore. We have to stick it out together. When one of you guys has a kid, I want to be sitting there in the waiting room, ready to hear the news on whether it's a boy or a girl. I want to be there for a wedding. I just want to be there. And maybe this sounds too dramatic, but I know all of you are thinking the same exact thing as me. Don't even try to deny it."

I groaned. "Listen, I genuinely want to stick with that, but they're just words. Remember when we said we would stay in touch and call each other practically every other day? What happened to that?"

Oliver walked over and stood by me. "Lilly's right. We need some solid proof. Of this. We need to make it official." He smiled down at me and I remembered why I had a crush on him in high school. I couldn't even fight back the tiny butterflies in my stomach.

Jake and Miley agreed with Oliver and I almost instantly and as we searched around the room for something, all four pairs of eyes landed on one specific item at the same time. It was beyond perfect.

So that's how we found ourselves scrambled on the floor, carving our own thoughts and ideas and hopes and promises into the underside of Kunkle's desk. She'll kill us when she finds out, but who knows, maybe when we come back here another five years from now, there it will be. Rough, jagged, faded, absolutely perfect, and waiting for us after all these years.

When our work was done, we went back to the gym to find that the crowd had decreased significantly. Glancing at my watch, I realized it was pretty late. But not late enough. "Hey, do you guys want to go to the beach?" I asked and we all agreed, kicking off our shoes and making the trip to the beach barefoot.

We stayed up till the sun turned the sky different shades of the rainbow in the early hours of the morning. None of us had to board our planes back home for at least another week, which was plenty of time to make plans for the future and catch up even more than we had in the last couple of hours.

In the end, we all did go back home. But it was different this time. We all visited each other every available chance we had and we called each other at least once a week. We pooled in and bought a summer house somewhere in the country where we'd spend at least one month together in the summer. We never did go back to how things were before the reunion. We're together. Forever. After all these years, it was our time to shine.

_Gone are the days of summer, _

_We couldn't change it if we tried._

_Why would we want to?_

_Let's go where we've got to._

_Our paths will cross again in time._

_It's never the same tomorrow,_

_And tomorrow's never clear._

_Our time is here._

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

**Okay, so it wasn't Loliver like I originally said in the summary, but I changed things up a bit. Again, I'm beyond sorry for the wait! You don't know how sorry I am, but I really hope this made up for it! I really liked writing this, and you guys are the reason I finished it. I saw all the people who had this on alert and it triggered the guilt in me. I think it turned out pretty okay. It's a good friendship fic. Anyways, please review! I'd love to hear what you thought about it! You could even tell me how much you hate me for the random absence! I honestly will adore all the reviews and reply to every single one of them. It's the least I could do. So for the first time in months and the last time on this story, goodbye! Thanks for everything! You guys are great!**

**Parakeet17**


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